Birds make it better

Have I mentioned lately that we're living in the midst of a major construction project at our house? There are days, rarely, when things are relatively peaceful, and there are one or two people hammering on some other part of the house. Then there are the days when someone decides it's time to break up a slab and go on an archeological trek for some bit of plumbing. Those are the days I pack up my computer and find somewhere quiet to hide out.

Today was one of those days. The girls and I came home just before five to find that hubby had endured a full day of trying to work through jack hammers and various contractors asking questions. I started pulling things out of the fridge for dinner. Our CSA share this week had mustard greens (a bit tangy for the kids' taste) and shell peas, so I got to work, figuring I'd pull some frozen fish out of the garage freezer at the last minute. Unfortunately, when I got there, the freezer was lukewarm. Apparently one of the guys cutting concrete for our new laundry room sink drain had unplugged it a day or two ago. Which reminds me -- I've still got to go out there and toss a bunch of defrosted items. Somehow dinner got finished (when all else fails, there's pasta).

We were just finishing dinner at about 6:30 when I started noticing the activity out in the backyard. The loquat tree is loaded with fruit, and the birds in the neighborhood have put out the word. "Let's go outside and look at the birds after everyone is finished," I announced. Doe ran for her kiddie binoculars. I had to dig mine out of the chaos in our bedroom, which is part of the work-in-progress at the moment.

I stood with the girls on the patio pointing out western tanagers and helping Ray find them with my binoculars safely leashed around both our necks. "Can I borrow those for a minute?" I asked -- hoping to clear up the mystery of whether the bird I saw last week was a spotted towhee or black-headed grosbeak. Definitely a grosbeak, female this time. The birds were colorful -- bright yellow and orange on the tanager and rusty for the grosbeak -- but spotting them among yellow-orange fruit and the occasional yellow leaf was challenging for the junior birders. They did well, though.

"I see it," cried Ray. "What a beautiful sight!" She has a flair for the dramatic -- when she saw the birthday cake Grandma bought for the oldest grandkid's 30th birthday, she blurted, "How romantic!" Where on earth did you hear that, I thought? Oh yeah, that would be the Barbie movies they've been watching.

After a few minutes, Doe decided it was time to serve us all dessert, so she went over to pick some fruit. She didn't discourage the birds much; it's a tall tree, and there's plenty of fruit well out of reach of a kindergartner. Somewhere in the process of picking loquats for us and the neighbors and Doe's teacher, we discovered a bird on the ground. She was alive, but not moving, at least until I tried to pick her up to give her a better place to rest. She flew a few feet to the patio, and we decided to leave her be.

It's so interesting to see the kids' compassionate instincts come out in different ways. Doe was pleading with me to help her -- this is the kid who startled me with a snail when I went to unbuckle her seat belt, and threw a fit when I told her to go put it on the grass (in the neighbor's yard, we don't have any right now). Much as I would have liked to help, I really didn't see how I could. Trying to pick her up only frightened her and likely there wasn't much we could do for her in any case. Ray went over near her spot on the patio and sang her a lullaby. "I stopped in the middle of the lullaby and told her I love you," she whispered to me later.

I guess we'll see in the morning whether Mrs. Tanager makes it or not. I suppose part of living closer to the beautiful creatures is seeing them in sickness and vulnerability as well as their glorious spring-time life. All I can say is that after a day of feeling a bit harassed and put upon, the birds made it all better.